Improvement in apparatus for washing the felts of paper-machines



' accompanying drawings,

Unirse Sterns Parent Fries,

Artnxnnnnnnnnnnson, or MiLWAUKnn, Wisconsin.y

iMPsovEMtNr in APFARATUSFOR wAsHiNG THE Furs oF PAPER-MAHiNts.

Speciieation forming part of Letters Patent No,'l&,5f}, dated September6, 1864..

vemployed for Washing vFclts in the lfrocess of Manufacturing Paper,which-I denominate. the Self-Actin g Felt-Washer#7 and I do here` bydeclare that Ithe following isa full and exact description thereof,reference being had to the and to the letters of reference markedthereon.

The' natureof my invention consists indispensing with the beatersheretofore used in felt-washers, andwith the machinery, power,

and friction upon thc felts necessary and in-4 cident to the use ofthem, and in using instead .thereof continuous or endless. tube passingaround the felts, from which tube -ininute jets of water" are forciblyprojected upon each surface of the felt in use through perforations inthe side of the tube, the water being supplied to the perforated tube bymeans of an elevated fountain or a force-pump.

The advantages of my invention are: rst, the beaters, with themachinery, presser, and friction on the felts necessary and incident totheml are dispensed with and avoided l; second,

the beaters being dispensed with, the nap and bodies ofthefeltsarcnotworn by them third, the felts for this reason will lastone-halflong er; fourth, the self-acting felt-washer keeps the fcltsalways clean, and hence they .do not lrequire to be removed from themachinery and subjected to other mechanical processes' y to cleansethem, and from this fact they are rendered still more durable; fifth,the beaters being dispensedwith, the 'elts lrun steadily,

.and without the' waving or oscillation caused by them, and-whichproduces the unevenness of lamcl so often observed in paper; sixth,

. the saving of power, wear upon the felts, the

time occupied in removing the feltsv from the machines for occasionalcleansing, and. time of machines while this is being done render my finvention nothalf as expensive as the apparatus heretofore used gseventh, this method.

of Washing leaves the nap oi'` the felts in a condition to couch farbetter than when sub vjected to the action of beaters.

To 4enable others skilled in the art to make and .use my invention, Iwill proceed lto describe its construction and operation.

to be' received from the fountain, or force-pump. Upon 'the neck of thisthrottle athread or screw is eut, as shown at k in. order' that thecylinder may bercadil'y attached to a reservoir or pipe.Thecontractionof the cylinder-base, as stated, forms a valve-seat, uponwhich a suitable valve is made to rest, by the meanshereinafterdescribed, wheneverit. is desiredto shuty off4 the water. Theother end of the cylinder is closed Water-tight by means of a cap,(shown at' 0,) which is screwed onto. the end of the cylinder. In thecenter or apexof the cape .is an apertnreor hole, supplied or guarded'by a watertight 'stuf11gbox, through which is an opening only sutlicientto admit-the valverod,'(show1 at d in the drawings.) The vali-*e-.rod dis made long enough to extend through thecylinder to the throttle. Thelower end of the rod d is supplied with a valve, plug, or disk, to serveasa valve to close the throttle when depressed upon or into it. Thevalverod, for a suflicient distance, Wli'ere it is in contact with the-nut of the stuffingbox e, has cut upon it a coarse thread or screw,which is designed -to work in a corresponding female thread or'screw cutin the-nut e, itself, as a means of opening and closing the throttle byraising or depressing the valve. The project-ing end of the valverod at'd is supplied with a handle or T,- as shown at f, to facilitatetheworking of the valve. On each side of the main cylinder and atopposite points an, opening is made of the same size with the-- caliberof the tube to be used. 'lo these openings the tube B B is to be firmlyattached watertight, as shown at g in the drawings.. The tube B B shouldspring from or leave the openings in the main cylinder with a curve,which will bring lthe straight sections ofthe .tube at B B atright-angles to the transverse axis of the main cylinder and exactlyparallel with each other through, their perforated extent, as shown inthe drawings. After being extended at such angle a sufficient length thetube is carried backnpon itself to the opening on the opposite side ofthe cylinder, where it is again attached to the cylinder, so that initsdepartnre, course and return the tube will describe an oblateelliptic figure, as it appears iu the drawings. The innerand opposing'side of each straight section ot the tube at B, respectively, isperforated with two or more rows ot' small holes, as shown` at B,through which the Water is projected upon the opposite surfaces ofthefelts. These perforations should extend along the two straightsections of the tube for a distance equal to the breadth of the felt tobe used.

The tube is made in sections, coupled together, so as t0 form acontinuous or endless tube, by rneans of unions or right and left' Wardby the machine, will pass-between and equidistant from the straight andparallel sections ot' the tube -B B. The valve is then raised byproperly tur-ning the T or handle y f when the water will be forced fromthe fountain or force-pump into the main .cylinder `A and the tube B B,and projected through thc perforations in the latter equally upon bothsurfaces of the felt, keeping' them perfectly clean and free fromadhering pulp, size, or other substance.

What I clailn as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

The method of Washing` felts, in the process of manufacturing` paper, byprojecting jetsofwater upon both surfaces Aof the felt while iu motionby means ot' an apparatus to be vconstructed and operated substantiallyas herein described.

A ALEXANDER ANDERSON.

TWitnesses:

I. l". WALKER, JNO. Minnen.

